Finding aid to the Indians of Southern California report, 1868 August 8 MS.1290
Finding aid prepared by Anna Liza Posas
Autry National Center, Braun Research Library
2011 October 28
234 Museum Drive
Los Angeles, CA, 90065-5030
323-221-2164
rroom@theautry.org
Title: Indians of Southern California report
Identifier/Call Number: MS.1290
Contributing Institution:
Autry National Center, Braun Research Library
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 folder
Date: 1868 August 8
creator:
Wilson, Benjamin Davis
Collection is open for research. Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit http://theautry.org/research/research-rules-and-application
or contact library staff at rroom@theautry.org. An item-level inventory is available from library staff.
Material in public domain, some use fees may apply. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must
be submitted in writing to the Autry Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry National Center
as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.
Related Archival Materials note
Original copy held in the Huntington Library in San Marino, California.
Photocopy of the original report printed in the
Los Angeles Star, volume XIV, August 8, 1868 issue.
Report is written by the Honorable Benjamin D. Wilson to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. The report includes topics
regarding land rights and land titles for Southern California Indians.
Indians of Southern California report, 1868 August 8, Braun Research Library, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MS.1290.
Benjamin Davis Wilson (1811-1878) of Tennessee came to California in 1841, married into the prominent Yorba family, and acquired
a vast property, including a ranch that encompassed the site of modern Riverside. He was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1851
and was named sub-agent for Indian Affairs for Southern California not long after. The Indians of southern California in 1852
prints a report Wilson prepared in collaboration with Benjamin Hayes after being named a federal Indian agent. The document
identifies two major problems: the security of ranches and settlements from Indian raids and the plight of the mission Indians.
He recommends a reservation system as the solution to both. John Walton Caughey's introduction provides useful background,
supplemented by his appendix of "Contemporary Comment."
Processing completed by Anna Liza Posas 2011. Processing of collection and publication of finding aid made possible by a grant
from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
The report, prepared in 1852, was published serially in the Los Angeles star, July 18-September 19, 1868. This is a photocopy
of that publication, created in 1960s.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Los Angeles Star.
Indian reservations -- California
Indians of North America -- California
Indians of North America -- Government relations
Missions -- California